Rewiring Your Brain for Creativity

How can we rewire our adult brains to connect with a more child like attitude of curiosity and creativity?

As children our creativity thrives until around the age of 8 when neuroscience conspires against us as our brains begin to work within boundaries of social expectation, short cuts and assumption. It is a myth, however, that adults are not as creative as children.

We often think that creativity is linked to those naturally talented rather than a skill we can acquire and apply to everyday living. Studies show that those who practice deliberate creative problem solving are more self-actualised because they have learned how to see opportunities where others just see obstacles. In this course, we will explore how to get back in touch with non-conventional thinking, re-write the rules of assumption and explore how creativity is relevant in almost every aspect of life.

The idea of deliberate creativity, pioneered by Alex Osborn (the ‘O’ in the BBDO advertising agency made famous by the TV show Mad Men), is based on the notion that this way of thinking can be learned, taught and developed. Modern day thinkers of creative problem solving tend to come from the fields of psychology and education, however we can also look to Jung, Maslow and Freud to understand the concept of creativity as it is today. With the invention of MRI scans, we now draw on neuroscience to understand the brain’s behaviour and gain insights into creative thinking. Creativity is, however, as old as civilisation and in Western philosophical terms we can easily trace it back to the Greeks.

In this three hour workshop of experiential play and deep learning, we will explore how to break the rules of conventional thinking to re-wire your creative brain.

TIMETABLE

'You can't use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have.'— Maya Angelou

COURSE LEADER

Paulina Larocca is a leading creativity and innovation expert with over 20 years’ experience delivering innovation for multi-national corporations and a keynote speaker on innovation, creativity, creative leadership and creating a more innovative culture. She is also the author of Creativity+: The Innovator’s Toolkit.

ABOUT SPECIAL EVENTS

Leading writers, economists, historians, philosophers, psychologists, artists and other thinkers offer provocation, inspiration and consolation in the form of advice for living better. Speakers for this strand have been invited by The School of Life to present their own material. Session formats will vary depending on the subject.

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